The 2024 Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli UK series concluded last weekend at Silverstone, in a thrilling finale which saw two new winners crowned across the Trofeo Pirelli and Coppa Shell classes.
Championship winners confirmed: In Trofeo Pirelli, Ferrari Challenge UK debutante Gilbert Yates (Charles Hurst) sealed his championship win with a perfect weekend, converting both of his first placed qualifications into comprehensive race wins. His impressive debut season has seen him qualify on pole eight times in a row, enabling the Charles Hurst driver to acquire 132 points overall. In Coppa Shell, the title was won by Robert Rees (Dick Lovett) who, despite bad luck in both races, battled relentlessly right up to the last lap. Passing Peter Hunter (Stratstone Manchester) with just a few corners to spare gave the Welshman enough points to seal the championship, landing on 126 points overall, only three more than Mike Dewhirst (Dick Lovett Swindon), who did not need only five successes to succeed in the final ranking.
Dealer battle: The 2024 season has seen an impressive battle take place between official Ferrari dealers Charles Hurst, based in Belfast, and Dick Lovett, based in Swindon. In a neck-and-neck battle right through to the end of the season, it was the Wiltshire-based dealership that pipped their Northern Irish rivals to the title, amassing a total of 163 points overall. Their impressive points haul was underwritten by the strong performances of their three-driver roster, including Coppa Shell winner Robert Rees, and series debutants Mike Dewhirst and Steve Dopson who finished second and third respectively in the same category.
Come back. In the last race of the 2024 season, two protagonists of the 2023 season series showed up again. They were Paul Simmerson (Graypaul Birmingham) and Stuart Marston (Maranello Sales) and they immediately made their mark in the Coppa Shell. For Simmerson came victory in Race 2, while Marston, on the podium in both races, took pole position for the first time.
Ceremony: The victors of the 2024 Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli UK season will be honoured next month in Imola during Finali Mondiali, which hosts the season ending round of European and North American Challenge and a crescendo where successes within the Ferrari racing world are celebrated.